Mashrafe puts retirement plan on hold!
Mashrafe Mortaza
|| CF Correspondent ||
Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza said on Friday that he will decide about his cricket career after returning home from the World Cup and put down water on all the speculation that his career will end with the World Cup.
The announcement in itself suggest that he is not thinking to quit cricket after the World Cup despite he hinted last week in this line as he joined politics in the recent past.
Since filing nomination to contest the 11th Parliamentary Election for ruling party Awami League there was high-scale speculation regarding his cricket career as according to many his days were numbered.
As a consequence it appeared that the ongoing series against West Indies would be his swansong and more than anything else whether it is his last series at home soil seemed to have taken the center stage.
The speculation was raised during the second ODI at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium as it could be his last game at the home of cricket where he had scripted some heroics with the bat and the ball, but more than anything else, with his shrewd cricket brain as a leader.
Mashrafe joined politics recently and hinted at retirement after the ICC World Cup and there is no more ODI scheduled in the SBNS before the global tournament.
If all these things are taken into consideration then fans might just see his last ODI at home when Bangladesh take on West Indies at Sylhet though there is a chance that he might review his career after the World Cup despite he stated firmly that his mindset is to play for the next eight months- World Cup.
Many even questioned whether he will be able to concentrate in the right manner as he will be busy concentrating on his political career.
“I was preparing myself, without paying attention to what people were saying. Since 2011, I have always felt this way before a game this is my last game, that what if I get another knee injury, and this will be my last game. It used to happen from nowhere in my early days,’’ Mashrafe told reporters adding that he is not yet ready to think anything about whether he had played his last game at home soil or not.
“To be honest and from the bottom of my heart, I have never deeply thought about [this being my last game]. There are challenges ahead, and I want to be more prepared to face those. What I will do after the World Cup, I will decide after the last match in the World Cup. I will come home and tell you if I am no longer playing and if I want to review my situation, I will still let you know. So, don’t be puzzled. Just relax,’’ said Mashrafe.
Bangladesh will play a Test against Afghanistan after the World Cup and there is speculation that the BCB may include a ODI series to give Mashrafe an opportunity to bid bye from the cricket back at home.
